


Tantrum in Target

by breatheforeverypart



Series: Watson the Service Dog and his Partner-in-health, Bucky Barnes [14]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Dissociation, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29133213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breatheforeverypart/pseuds/breatheforeverypart
Summary: Bucky goes on a solo mission to Target with his furry partner in health.  Someone decides to makes comments and nearly de-rails his bargain hunt in the dollar section of the store.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Watson the Service Dog and his Partner-in-health, Bucky Barnes [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758628
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Tantrum in Target

**Author's Note:**

> This is definitely based on my personal experiences. Check out my tumblr, breatheforeverypart, for more on my own relationship with my amazing poodle. Watson saves my life every day and I wouldn't be able to navigate errands and life without him.

***

“Maybe you should write about it?” 

“Like, journal?” Natasha had passive aggressively been ‘gifting’ him journals ever since he returned from Wakanda. She snuck in an out of locked rooms, with little packs of pencils and bound notebooks. The other week, he found one tucked between rolls of toilet paper under the sink. She nagged because she cared. 

Bucky found being loved really confusing. Natasha understood this conundrum. 

Sam continued thinking out loud. “Yeah…or post it somewhere. Didn’t Kate make that blog when Watson was in training?” 

The pictures of Watson as a puppy, perfecting a down stay near a roast chicken had made his heart skip a beat. In a good way, not like the conditioned responses the Red Room had implanted over years of torture. 

Bucky laughed. “Yeah, I’m not really a public persona kinda guy. Pepper already runs ‘my’ accounts.” 

Sam raised his mug of hot cocoa. “Miracle worker. Given your reputation, she’s earned that title.” 

“No arguments here.” Watson sniffed at Sam’s steaming mug. 

“Sorry buddy, this is straight up poison for you. But it’s delicious for me.” He slurped happily at the molten chocolate as the dog licked at the steam. 

“Hell, no. Listen to Wilson. How about some peanut butter and apple?” 

“That’s the stuff. Plate for two?” Sam asked, raising himself off the couch, while sipping his treat. 

Bucky let himself nod. Wilson had mastered the art of coercing him into eating. Natasha and Laura probably coached him. Their team-ups weren’t fair, but managed to be really effective. “Okay. I guess it’s about time for lunch, right?” 

Sam sliced into an apple on a cutting board that echoed around the kitchen. Watson peered over the back of the couch, drooling over the crisp fruit. The rhythmic chopping served as good background noise for rumination. 

“You could post your story with a picture. I bet you’ve got some with him in his new gear. People are always commenting on his shoes…I bet you got plenty of that bullshit today too.” 

Wilson hit the proverbial nail on the head. Several comments did happen to involve his shoes. Mostly from adults, which bothered Bucky more than kids gasping excitedly at the four covered paws. 

“You’re as sneaky as Nat.” 

Sam gasped sarcastically. “High praise Barnes, twisted, but thank you.” He handed him the plate of fruit and re-started one of his favorite playlists. “Text me, if you need anything. I’m gonna join Bruce for some yoga.” 

He nodded and opened the blog. Watson whined for some apple and licked at Bucky’s sweatpants. He started typing and lost himself in the story. This wasn’t dissociation, it was flow. Flow was something he rarely found these days. It was a treasured moment of focus. 

“To the Woman at Target,

Please understand that your behavior was self-centered and inappropriate. Watson’s job is to keep me safe.

Woman: Oh wow! Look at you, gorgeous dog! What a beautiful girl. Look at those shoes, hi puppy! Hi!

Me: *startled response* I back up and get Watson into a blocking position. I do not verbalize a response to her comment.

Woman: That’s rude. You didn’t have to be so bitchy, I’m being friendly! That poor animal.

Thanks. Thank you. I forgot half of what I was shopping for thanks to your comments. Watson is amazingly good at his job, so he helped me navigate through self-check out and out of the store. I didn’t have the energy to correct you in the moment, so I’ll do it now.

You do not have the right to interact with my dog. He is working. I’ll assume you willingly ignored his vest and harness that clearly label him as a Service Dog.

Me ignoring you does not make me rude and it certainly does not make me a bitch. A year or so ago, and would have been utterly destroyed by that confrontation. I have grown and learned from my experiences as being 50% of a working team. I hope you learn from this experience too. I hope someone else has the energy to educate you. Some days I have the spoons to interact with the public, today was not one of those days.

For now, Watson is comfortably laying with his head on my lap. He is my partner in health and the reason why I am able to navigate public places without my lifelong human partner. We will recover and continue to look for the good in people in our public access adventures.

Even today, just before this incident, we encountered a mother and two young children. One of the kids said ‘hey a dog! They’re not allowed in here.’ 

The mom chose that moment to teach her children about service animals. Both kids accepted it, looked Watson over in his super cool purple harness and moved on. 

Interactions like that make me wish I had a sticker to hand out to people who correctly interact with service dog teams. If anyone knows where I could obtain such a sticker, please let me know.”

Bucky clicked post and shut the laptop. 

“Now, let’s do some grounding.” He strode out of the Common Room with Watson heeling nicely at his side.

Watson burped with contentment as the peanut butter settled with the apples in the dog’s tummy.

“Happy?” He shot the dog a bemused expression and folded another bath towel. Laundry was one of his favorite chores. It wasn’t time sensitive, most loads could be saved even if he dissociated and forgot to transfer from the washer to the dryer. 

He licked Bucky’s wrist and pawed the at the plastic woven basket. 

He blew a raspberry and tossed the last pair of socks into an open drawer. “Okay. Should we go find Stevie?”

Watson tilted his head left to right so fast that his ears flapped.

“Yeah?” He laughed. “Sure. You did good today. You always do.”

He stretched on his human’s bed, paws on Bucky’s legs, as he yawned. 

His phone vibrated with an incoming text. Sam congratulated him on the post.

Bucky froze, panicked that somehow his identity had been linked to the blog. But no, the blog was safe. His name and Watson’s name were not listed. The posts mostly dealt with his mental health. He tagged this post #servicedog and #partnerinhealth. 

He scrolled to the notes attached to the post. Sam’s secret account was among the ‘likes’. 

Bruce, Natasha, Laura and for some unknown reason, Wong also commented, re-blogged or interacted with what he’d written. It struck him as satisfying. Other people validating his thoughts.

“Should we show your technology challenged Dad our post?”

“What does pupper wanna show me?” Steve cleared his throat as the bathroom door creaked open.

Bucky tensed and cursed. He panted, trying to stifle the surge of panic. “You…jerk!” He had totally forgotten Steve told him, he was going to shower.

Steve smiled and shook his head, like Watson after a bath.

He had run, properly masked, in and out of Central Park and through most of Brooklyn. Bucky supposed he was the reason for his partner’s decision to run a mini marathon that morning. The mere thought of that many miles in a row, made Bucky want a nap.

“Stand down.” Steve smiled, concern leaving his face as Bucky started lobbing clean clothes at him from their bed. “How was Target?” 

Water beaded in bunches at his collarbones. A towel wrapped loosely around his waist. “It was…an adventure.”

“Uh oh. Care to elaborate?”

“People are the worst.” Bucky handed Steve his smartphone. “Sam told me to write it down. I posted this to one of those blog-things Kate set up when Wats was a puppy.”

“Yeah?” He squinted at the screen. “That’s great.”

“Gee, thanks punk.” 

***


End file.
